Latch



Feb. 26, 1929. 1,703,556

. J. STEWART LATCHl Filed 1 17, 1926 fhg 4Z im, 2.021

IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY v Patented Feb. `26, 19.29.

UNIT-ED .STATES f i '1,703,556 PATENT OFFICE.

y 'y yANiiiaEw J. STEWART, 0E LEBANON, INDIANA. l

LATCH.

Application filled` April 17, 1926. ASerial No. 102,791. f'

The present invention relates to an improved automatic latch'and handle,and has for an object to rprovidea latch'of this character of simple,strong, and inexpensive construction, and which will bejeificient andreliable in operation.l particular Object of the Ainventionis topi'ovide aV latch connected to 'an operatingfhandle, constituting theknob or handle of the door, and "which handle 'upon beingpulled vin thedirection to open the door will automatically release the latch; and asone feature of the invention, itl

is proposed tok provide a connection between the handle and latch bymeans of which the j door may be closed Vby Vpressing inwardly ,upon thehandle, and-at the same time permitting the latch to have freeretracting and keeper engaging movement as the door is ior the door, butthe connection between.

the latch and handle was such that by pressing inwardly uponthe-handle,'as in c-losing the door, a pressure would be applied to thelatchdirectly opposed to vits retracting movement, preventing vtreeengagement vof the latch with its keeper, so that it was necessary toclose the doorvwithout pressing upon the handle 'to permit the-handle tofollow the keeper engaging movements/of the latch, the handle irstmoving ,outwardly and then snappingdnwardly. during suc kn'iovements ofthe latch. Obviously,7any Va- Y riation in the engaging relation of. thelatch with its keeper, as mightfbe caused by warp- Y ing of the door,sagging,or other such'c'onditions, would be directly transmittedv tothehandle, so that it lwould either 'set awayf from. the door surface, .orywould. prevent full' binding engagement of the latch.: v, f

Y According to the presentinvention la fixed normalrelation o'lthehandle is maintained with respect to the door surface, independ-`whichsimultaneously serves as a pivot support and a stop for vlimitingpivotal movetion; i Fig. latch, as shownlin Fig. ,1;.L n i,

ently of the latch, and the latter is therefore permitted to functionwith full eiiiciency, irrespective of variation in the door structure. gf e.

A further object is to provide a latch in-l cluding a vdetachable knoborhandle, and which in the detached ielat-ionof such knob or,` handlewill' be substantiall lflush with theouter surface of the door, t erebygreat'- ly facilitating'the packing and shipping of cabinets or the likelatches. V

Another object consists inv the pivotal 'e5 equipped with. the

mounting of a latch in a sheet metal bracket,

ment oi. the latch in bothl directions-and further acts'as a guard forthe latch and its actuating spring.

f Another ob `ect is to provide .a latch memyber formed from a singlepiece of sheet metal folded upon itself, and with angularV or offsetends forming the fulcrum, the offset portionV serving both as alguardand retainer for the spring;

f Still another object consists vin providing,

`as one embodiment, a roller type of catch associated with the latch,andv a lever handle y connected to the latch in a manner to assist inthe wedging engagement of the latch, this type being especiallydesirable for refrigerator use.l i

With` the above andy otherobjectsin view,

embodiments of the invention are shown in;

the. accompanying drawings, and thesezembodinients will be herein aftermore fully de- Ascribed with reference thereto, and the invention willbe iinally pointed out in the n claims.'-

In the drawingsz--- C Y 1. Fig. l is a horizontal sectional view vof adoor and casing, showing thelatch, according to the presentembodiment-ot the inven- '2 isan inner vend elevation 'off-the' .Fig 3is a perspective View lmo showing thev latch, keeper, and knob, yindetached and separated relation; Y .y

Fig. 4 is a view, 'similar to Fig. 1, and

showing the position of the latch-and; knob,

as .theformer is released through opening thedoor; i `.1.

Figr is a similar view, showing'they position of the latch and'knob, asthe fornieris Cil 4the inner Surfaces ofthe ears 16.

retracted by the keeper through closing the door bypreeeure applied tothe knob;

Fien 6 is a detail sectional view of the knob attaching latch. actuatingrod and its guide support; and

Fig. 7 is a view, similar to Figl, showing,

a modified ferm of the invention.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral .iguree of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the latch is adapted to be Secured at theinner eide of a hingedly mounted door 10 having a flange 11 adapted Vto'Close against a or frame 12,- `the door being provided. in inwardlyspaced relation to its; flanged edge with a drilled hole or passage 13extending therethrough. n

The'latch, according to the preeent eml'iod'mcnt of the invention, n:omprieee a bracket formed of Sheet metal, and including a flattriangular base 14, provided centrally of its forward edge with anupwardly bent bearing support 15, 'ing aa a latch stop, and side ears 16ben -nwardly therefrom. 4Between the ears 1b there is secured atransverse pin 17 upon which the bell crank lever type of latch ispivotally mounted. This latch is preferably formed of a single piece of`sheet metal folded upon itself along tlie top edge 1S, and comprises anose portion 19, a rearwardly extending tail portion 20 having `anupwardly projecting end 21, and downwardly extending mounting ears 22bent outwardly and downwardly i into spaced parallel. relation with eachotherand pivotally engaged upon the pin 17 adjacent A coil spring 23 iecoiled about the pin 17, one projecting end being` engaged against theunder surface of the upper lateral portion of the moruiting ears` 22,waile the other end beare upon the base plate, whereby the latch ispressed in counter-clockwise direction against the portion 15 acting aea limiting Stop. The forward yedge of the nose portion 19 of the lat-chis cut away above the ears 22 to form ra notch 24, and is rounded abovesaid notch, as at 25, to provide a camming surface.

At the rearward portion of the base plate 14 there is provided anaperture 26 in which ie secured the upper end of a tubular guide member27, adapted to be engaged in the drilled passage 13 in the doorI withits lower edge substantiallyflush with the outer surface of the door,the base plate being secured to the inner surface of the door byy screws28 engaged throughholes 29 formed inithe forward cornersof the plate.

lVithin the guidemember there is slidably engaged a handle or knobattaching pull rod including an upper enlarged diameter portion 30,guided m the upper yend, and a smaller diameter stem portion 31, guidedin the inwardly flanged lower end 32, a coil flange 32 of theguidemember, soV thatwith the handle or knobl detached, 4as in'Fig. 6,-

the end surface is flush with the outer door sru'face.V The pull rec ieprovided. with a threaded hole 36, within which the` Screw 37 of theknob 38 adapted tobe engaged.

At the inner end of the pull rod there-is formed a stud 39, `upon whichis secured the base '4G of yan angular yokefll, having a slot 42 in itsupright portion. in which is engaged the tail portion of the latch. Ir1`he slot 42 is of such leneth that a short lost motion space'isprovided above the tail piece 20 inthe normal latched position of thelatch, while a relatively long Space. is provided beneath said tailpiece to permit independent rcn tracting or keeper engagingmovement ofthe latch with respect to the knob, asindicated in Fig. 5.

The keeper, adapted to cooperatewith the latch, is formed of a stripofsheet metal, and consists of a. base portion 43 adapted to be Secured tothecasing 12, as by screws 44, an angularlybent latch, retaining orkeeper portion 45, and an. inclined strike portion V 46,with'which,therounded camportion 25 adapted to coact during closingofr*thY door to force back the latch. y

In operation, a pull upon the knob tilts the latch upon its pivot,releasing it from the keeper portion 45, and continued pull swingsthedoor uponr its hinges to open it. rliVhcn the door is closed, eitherby pushing against its Surface, or preferably by pushing directly upont-he knob, the latch first vengages the strike 46, camming back, asshown in Fig. 5, and thereupon engages the keeper portion 45, the latchAspring automatically seat ing the latch with abinding closing pressureupon the door;v During the closing operation the pressure'upon the knobdoes not op,-

ico

pose thekeeper engaging action ofthelatch,

nor is this action imparted to the knob. The

lost motion relation between the latch and:

the slotted yoke portion 41 permite Vfull bindingv engagementofthe'latch under variations in'` the.l doorfor. latch structure, as

Amight be causedy by warping of the door, or

inaccurate attachment of. the keeper plate.

In Fig. 7 .there is illustrated avmodiied `form ofthe invention, inYwhich themountv ing base for the latch consists of a base platepivotally of sheet metalfolded upon its-elf along. the

edge 50, providing a smooth camming surface, and including a noseportion 51 r'and outwardly and downwardly bent spaced portions 52,pivotally engaged at their forward ends upon the pin 49 within the bo'Xstructure 48, and provided at their rearwardly projected -ends 'with atransverse pin 53 adapted for connection with the handle'fpull rod,presently to be described. A1coil spring 54 about the pin 49 coacts in asimilar manner to the first form to press Vthe notch edge portion 55 ofthe latch into engagementywith the keeper. The -l eeper, as shown inthis embodiment, comprises a base plate 56 having an angular portion57in rwhich a roller 58 is supported, the angle of the notch 55 being suchthat increasing inward move-v ment of the latch increasingly presses thedoor closed with a wedging action. l

The handle 59 Vinfthe form of a lever, which is pivoted at 60 in abracket 61 and is pivotally connected at 62 to ytheouter end of a pullrod 63 guidedV in a bushingy 64 formed upon the base plate 65 ofthebracket and engaged in a passage 66 in the door, the

pull rod extending through said passage and being provided at its inner'end with an en# largement engaged between the spaced ends of the latchand provided with a slot 67 en-l gaged by the pin 53. i

The operation in opening thefdoor is substantially the same as in thefirst embodiment.. In closing, however, an increased pressure maybeapplied upon the latch after it is engaged withy the keeper bypressingthe handle inwardly, this action pressing the door tightlyclosedl with an increasing wedgiugaction. This is especially desirablein refrigerator usefand in other uses where a very tight closure isdesired. j I' It will be understood that the. forni of keeper and thetype'of handle shown vin connection with either of the two embodiments yillustrated maybe used with the other;

I have illustrated and described'aA pre. ferred and satisfactoryembodiment of the invention, vbut it will be obvious that changes may bemade therein, within thespirit and scope thereof, as defined in theappended claims. l

Having lthusfdescribed my invention, what ,I claim andk desire to secureby Letters.

Patent is y v 1. Ina latch for a movable closure vor the like, a belllcrank latch member adapted to f lbe projected andrretracted andincluding' rigidly connected nose and tail portions, a mounting bracketpivotally supporting said latch member, a spring acting between saidbracket and latch member-adapted to yield-vk ingly press the latter toprojected position,

'a normally projected actuating member adapted tohave latch retractingmovement in the opening direction of saidgmovable closure and includinga slotted portion engaged by the tail portionof said latch member, saidlatch member adaptedto have retracting lmovement independently of theactuating member through free movement of said tail portion insaidslotted portion, and spring means adapted to yieldablyV retainindependently of said latch member. j

2. 'In a latchv for a movable closure or the like, a bell crankflatchmember adapted to be projected and retracted.y and including'saidactuating member in normal positionl rigidly connected nose andtail portions, a v' thetail portion of said rlatch member having a lostmotion` connection therewith adapted to permit retractingmovement ofVsaid latch member independently of the actuating member, and springmeans adapted to yieldably retain said actuating member .in normalposition independently of said latch member.

Signed'` at Lebanon, in the county of Boone `and State of Indiana,thisl'th day ofJanuary, 1926. f .f

n f vANDREW J. STEWART.

